power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. he considers it a call of duty after the deadly shooting at sandy hook elementary school. a father and former marine decided to do what he could to keep his kids' school safe. he now spends his days standing guard outside the entrance. >> i'm doing this because we need hope, man. if you're able and capable of doing something, you have the responsibility to act. >> he made me feel good just to

know that he stood up and did something to make us all feel better today. >> former marine, a dad, doing what's right, doing his duty. hello, everyone. don lemon here, top of the hour. you're in the cnn "newsroom." a senior navy s.e.a.l. officer dead in afghanistan. commander job w. price, leader of s.e.a.l. team 4 was found dead yesterday by members of his unit. the initial conclusion is that price committed suicide. the navy's investigating. stay with cnn for more details from our pentagon correspondent in just a minute. more than 100 people were killed in syria today. civilians doing nothing more than waiting in line for bread. witnesses say a syrian military aircraft dropped bombs on this small village and hit a bakery

where scores of people were gathered trying to get desperately-needed food. witnesses say the hospitals cannot handle all the casualties. the people of egypt give a thumbs up to a new constitution drawn up by the country's most islamist assembly. this weekend was the second round of a nationwide referendum. the new constitution adjusts the leadership positions and clarifies how the country's laws are made. we'll know the final results in just a few hours. hours ago hawaii senator daniel inouye was laid to rest. he represented hawaii in washington for more than five decades, ever since hawaii became a state in 1959. the 88-year-old senator was also a war hero. he lost his arm in world war ii. president obama and the first lady attended today's funeral in hawaii. obama has said inouye was his earliest political inspiration.

we are not going to budge. that's the message from the national rifle association. making it clear today its opposition to any new gun laws in the wake of the connecticut shooting. the group's ceo is standing by remarks he made at an event on friday. cnn's barbara starr has more on the debate that dominated the sunday morning talk shows. >> newtown. >> newtown. >> newtown. >> newtown. >> how many more? >> reporter: performers and artists now joining with 800 mayors calling for a plan to end gun violence. but wayne lapierre, the chief executive officer and public face of the national rifle association, made clear on nbc's "meet the press" that his organization will oppose legislation adding new restrictions to the sale of weapons or high-capacity ammunition magazines. >> look, i know there's a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens.

i know there's an anti-second amendment industry in this town. i know there are political elites that for 20 years always try to say it's because of american-owned guns. i'm telling what you think will make people safe. what every mom and dad will make them feel better, when they drop their kid off at school in january is if we have a police officer in that school, a good guy. >> reporter: as the last of the newtown massacre victims are laid to rest, the nra has taken the position that armed security officers in schools are a major part of its solution. >> i have found the statements by the nra over the last couple days to be really disheartening because the statements seem to not reflect any understanding about the slaughter of children that happened in newtown, connecticut. here is what bothered me. the nra spokespeople have been willing to deal with every possible cause of gun lens

except guns. >> reporter: school districts have grappled for years with the question of security, but advocates of more gun laws, the opposite of the nra, offered this. they remind everyone there was an armed security officer at the columbine high school the day of that 1999 massacre, and they say controlling gun violence requires a package of solutions beyond the schoolhouse door. barbara starr, cnn, washington. >> barbara, thank you. the brady campaign to prevent gun violence weighed in on the current debate. they released a statement from a father whose 8-year-old son was saved from bullets by a courageous teacher at sandy hook elementary. he writes, our hearts are heavy this holiday in newtown. nothing will bring our children back or ease the pain we all feel. but we can do something to make this nation safer. we can make this the nation we all want. so today i want to speak specifically to all responsible gun owners and nra members with the message to join us. join us because you know in your

heart that we are better than this. hope you're listening. coming up in 30 minutes here, i'm going to talk to ken trump. he says calls for arming teachers, making kids wear bulletproof backpacks, and teaching kids to attacked armed intruders is borderline insane. that's at 7:30 eastern right here on cnn. is congress ready to do a thelma and louise and plunge over the fiscal cliff? some lawmakers sounded gloomy about any chances for a compromise deal. >> passing pln b would not have changed the outcome. we would have gone over the cliff before, we will go over the cliff now because it's what the president wants. you can't negotiate with someone who does not want to negotiate. >> in the aftermath of the house republicans rejecting speaker boehner aers so-called plan "b," it's the first time i feel like we will more likely go over the cliff than not, and if we allow

that to happen, it will be the most colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time, maybe ever in american history. >> nine days remain to get a deal done. lawmakers are home for the holidays. house speaker boehner is in ohio. president obama as reported is in his native hawaii. before leaving washington, president obama urged congress to pass a mini plan that would preserve middle class tax rates. brianna keilar joins us live from hawaii. what do we think will happen as the holiday week rolls out? >> reporter: well, and don, we should probably say where our senate majority leader harry reid and senator mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, because now all eyes turn to the senate. they're set to come back to town on the 27th. that is thursday. and at this point there are a number of options for some sort of bill that senate majority leader harry reid could put on the floor, but right now it

appears democrats in the white house are pushing for something that still concentrates on making sure that income tax rates for those making a quarter million dollars or less don't go up. that said, it's really hard to see how at that rate senator mcconnell might allow some republican senators to support it or that some republican senators would even want to jump on board with that and even harder to see how a bill like that is something that house speaker john boehner would allow to the floor -- allow to the house floor for a vote. so things are very uncertainty point and you're hearing a lot of pessimism as we just heard from democrats and republicans about what will happen with the fiscal cliff and whether we'll go over it. it is unclear. >> brianna, can we expect any other lawmakers to like jump in and try to -- you mentioned harry reid. what about mitch mcconnell or someone, can we expect anybody else to do something besides the house speaker and the president?

>> reporter: well, at this point i think the ball is really out of the court of president obama and house speaker john boehner. obviously something would have to get through the house, but we're definitely focusing on the senate. i will tell you talking to sources that it doesn't even appear that senate majority leader reid and senate minority leader mcconnell are talking. the discussions aren't under way yet. you talk to sources on the hill and you get the sense that reid is waiting for mcconnell to chime in and mcconnell is waiting for reid to chime in. so this is a bit of a standoff right now and we are waiting to see who is going to blink. that's really the question, who is going to blink first and the fact is we just don't know. >> brianna keilar, thank you very much. first, now they were only trying to buy bread and now over 100 people are dead after a bakery is bombed by war planes. we're live from the middle east as the violence in syria escalates. and their job was to make people laugh, but that was before the newtown school shooting.

>> he was one of the first responders to the scene. how are you? >> i'm doing okay. >> never in your life could you imagine you'd pull up to a scene so horrific. >> absolutely not. there are certain things that people just shouldn't see. >> how a connecticut morning radio show has become a way for listeners to heal. it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here.

horrible, horrible news from the syrian civil war today. sadly, we're accustomed to high death tolls and civilian casualties in syria, but what happened today was brutal even by that war standard. we've made this video blurry on purpose because the scene is so awful. it's a small village in western syria. witnesses say a government

warplane dropped bombs on a bakery today where long lines of people were waiting just to get some bread. more than 100 people are dead now. i want to talk to cnn's mohammed j j jamjoon. >> reporter: it's horrific details that have emerged the past few hours since we first reported this bombing. activists tell us that around 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. local in syria today that this warplane dropped this shell on this bakery. they say that hundreds of people were lined up outside, that there had been shortages of food throughout the last week. this was the first day that that bakery that had been hit was open and that because of that, at least 100 people they say were killed. the video that we've seen posted online, we can't independently verify it, but it seems to be corroborated by what we've been told by activists. it shows an absolutely grisly

scene, mangled bodies in the wreckage of the building and the rubble. you see rebel free syrian army soldiers and civilians trying to tend to the wounded, taking them to the hospital and pulling dead bodies out. men screaming into the camera angry at the regime who they blame for this and asking the world, where are you, why aren't you helping the syrian people. don? >> any explanation, mohammed, from the syrian government for this bombing? what possible reason would they have to bomb this village? >> reporter: well, don, the syrian government hasn't commented on this aerial bombardment yet. but opposition activists that we've spoken with say they believe the reason this town was targeted is because they say that the town was liberated in the past week, that rebel-free syrian army members went into the town, that they took it away from the control of syrian regime forces that had been there. the opposition activists we speak with say there had been a lot of anti-assad sentiment in

that town. because of that, they believe this town was deliberately targeted as a part of a retaliation plan by the government. don? >> russian diplomats have been talking about possible asylum for assad. this bombing today has to play a part in the discussions in damascus. >> reporter: well, we certainly think it would have to, absolutely. and really is there any more striking juxtaposition as far as the failed attempts thus far by the diplomatic efforts of people like brahimi and kofi annan before him when you compare that to the horror on the ground, where hundred dollars of people have been killed according to the activists. time and again we've seen brahimi or before him kofi annan, regional power players, international power players, the u.n. and the arab league try to go into syria and try to forge

some sort of path to peace, and why et it seems to have fallen on deaf years. these peace plans don't seem to take hold. the activists we spoke to said they don't believe this time will be any dferent. they fear for what will happen next. in the nearly two years since the uprising began in syria, since the civil war started, over 40,000 people have been killed there as a rul of the violence. don? >> mohammed jamjoom thank you very much. a protest in new delhi, india. for a second straight day riot police blasting protesters with president bush water hoses. demonstrators returned to the states after a woman was gang raped on a moving city bus last weekend. they're demanding a toughening of india's rape laws. further north a protest over the assault of another woman turned deadly. a journalist was killed by police gunfire in protests there. people in chile and argentina are watching a volcano

that straddles the border between the two countries. the volcano has been spewing smoke into the sky and ash has been raining down on surrounding towns. but so far no evacuations have been ordered, although some people have fled the area. police officers see a lot of interesting things, but this may be a first. check out what a cop spotted darting across the road. a baby in a shopping cart heading right into traffic. stick around for the ending. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership? [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today.

it's hour top story this hour on cnn. the death of a senior navy s.e.a.l. commander in afghanistan. here is our pentagon correspondent barbara starr with what few details we know at this hour. barbara? >> reporter: don, very sad news this holiday weekend for u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s. the navy is now investigating the death in afghanistan of one of its most senior deployed s.e.a.l. officers as an apparent suicide. a u.s. military officials tells cnn. navy commander job w. price, 42 years old, died december 22nd while serving as the commanding officer of s.e.a.l. team 4, a group of more than two dozen

commandos conducting combat operations in the southern region of the country. now, while the death remains under formal investigation, that u.s. military official of who's directly familiar with the event, said the family has been notified of the death and has also been notified it is being investigated as an apparent suicide. there is no indication at this time that commander price was involved in any military-related investigations or any controversies, the official said. all indications are when he did not appear at an expected time, other military personnel weptnto look for him and discovered his body with an apparent gunshot wound. don. >> thank you very much. a bank robber who escaped a prison in chicago on a rope of bed sheets and dental floss has made his first court appearance. joseph jose banks and a fellow inmate squeezed down a window and rappelled 15 stories to freedom early tuesday.

but the breakout didn't last long. a swarm of police and fbi agents arrested banks at an apartment. the manhunt for the other escapee continues. a police officer in the right place at the right time. take a look at this video. this is footage from a police car dashcam in spooner, wisconsin, capturing what police officer adam brunclick saw as he was driving along his beat. a child you see there in the yellow jacket in a shopping cart rocketing towards a busy street. the officer realized he couldn't stop the car so he stopped traffic instead. it worked and the little boy escaped unharmed. wow. their job is to make people laugh, but not these days. how a connecticut radio morning show has become a way for listeners to heal. powerful words coming up.

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connecticut's number one fm radio morning show usually sounds like fraternity -- like a fraternity party but since the shooting two radio hosts got

serious and started taking hundreds of calls from people trying to deal with tragedy. >> chaz, a.j., mornings. >> our normal show we like to call it a town hall meetings held in a frat house. friday was strange. we went from in the morning doing one of the most happy, upbeat, fun shows of the year -- >> next year is going to be even better. >> to in the afternoon doing the saddest show of our careers. >> he was one of the first responders to the scene. how are you? >> i'm doing okay. >> never in your life could you imagine you'd pull up to a scene so horrific. >> absolutely not. there are certain things that people just shouldn't see. >> every moment it was getting worse and worse and you couldn't help but feel, okay, did we reach the bottom. >> my sister is a behavioral therapist at sandy hook element. >> is she okay? >> we don't know. we haven't heard from her. >> how long ago did she start there? >> her second week there. >> she's probably very busy right now.

>> absolutely. she's probably -- will be very terrified when she gets home but right now her priorities are children. >> and monday we had her on the show and she was not okay. >> i'm so sorry for your loss. >> thank you, thank you very much. we're all surprised and shocked. >> there's almost a threshold for a nightmare. this left nightmare in the rear-view mirror. >> my heart goes out to those parents bulldogs they will never be the same. >> the fact folks were able to call in and get it out of their system, to talk about it instead of keeping it bottled in, i think it helped them and it helped us. >> jim and. >> you can imagine how our world has been turned upside down. >> a very close friend of ours lost his son. >> grechon in see more. >> you bring us hope to us. >> i don't know how any of these parents are doing what they're doing. >> a tough day after another

tough day and then a harder day. >> i'm choking up as we speak and i can't get over what has happened. >> scott. >> a very close friend of mine, his son was one of the victims. >> mary in shelton. >> hi, how are you? >> we're hanging in. >> as we all are. it's really, really tough. >> and at the cemetery also there was probably 200 to 300 firefighters. >> they're all lined up along the funeral route. >> they're having their service for his son today. >> there was a lovely poem. can i share it with you? please don't cry, we're okay. we won't on a field trip today. it's really nice so i think i'll stay and homd your spot until your field trip day. i know christmas is here and there's toys to be given, so please tell santa to send them to heaven. arming teachers, cops in school, bulletproof backpack, just some of the ideas that have been proposed to protect students. what does a school safety expert think about those ideas?

he sums up his thoughts about arming teachers in two words, borderline insane. we talk live with him next. [ male announcer ] coughequence™ #8. waking the baby. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. robitussin®. don't suffer the coughequences™.

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half past the hour getting a look at the headlines right now on cnn. a senior navy s.e.a.l. official dead in afghanistan. the pentagon says commander job w. price leader of s.e.a.l. team 4 was found dead yesterday by members of his unit. the initial conclusion is that price committed suicide. the navy is investigating right now. more than 100 people were killed in syria today. civilians doing nothing more than waiting in line for bread. >> allahu akbar! >> witnesses say a syrian

military aircraft dropped bombs on this small village and hit a bakery where people were gathering to get desperately needed foods. witnesses say the hospitals cannot handle all the casualties. okay. here we go. another conversation about this school shooting and gun laws. arming teachers, giving kids bulletproof backpacks, teaching kids to attack armed intruders. the conversations about school safety after the shooting at sandy hook elementary school are endless. everyone tried to come up with a solution to keep our children safe. joining me from cleveland is ken trump. he's the president of the national school safety and security services. thank you for joining us again. we were in newtown together so it's good to see you. how are you doing? >> hanging in there, don. it's been tough, more so as a father than a school safety professional and i know we spent some time in newtown and, you

know, the people's faces, they were shell shocked as i drove around town worked with you and soledad and others. it's just something that i'll never forget and a punch in the gut as a father. >> when i hear people who come up with some of these ridiculous proposals and who say we should, you know, be looking at other things besides the gun rules, i just wish they could see all the faces that we saw, the people we saw and what they were dealing with. maybe they may change their minds a little bit or there may be some more compromise. >> i have been in this business for over 25 years. i have had hundreds of e-mails and people with bulletproof vests for teachers and arming teachers and a bulletproof backpack and the list just goes on and on, and we're struggling to get people to focus on the fundamentals. the best practices have been in place since post-columbine. we know it's prevention, mental health support service for kids,

building relationships, basic security measures. your school-based police officers are effective programs. school emergency planning, but it's a balanced approach and this has been -- this issue has been politicized. i'm just angry. it's been politicized on all angles. it's been opportunists who are jumping on for products and the conversation isn't even in the ballpark. it's been borderline insane and it gets worse every day. >> your quote was that any of this with the backpacks and all -- don't we want to preserve our kids' innocence as long as db maybe a little bit longer and not have them have to go to school with bulletproof backpacks or to go to their school and see an armed guard? >> i tell you, don, the devil is always in the details of implementation and even if you entertain the idea, if you understand how schools work, most schools the kids put the backpacks in the lockers anyway. what will you going to do in gym

class? will they be carrying the book bag over hir heads in front of them. it doesn't make sense, period, but especially in implementation. armed police officers, school resource officers do a lot of preventative work relationships with kids. the funding for that has been cut more and more for the past five or six years as has prevention, and -- but you start talking -- teachers want to be armed with textbooks and computers and every teacher i talk with in my kids' school and elsewhere around the country said no thanks, no way, no how. but the conversation just goes on like wildfire, and we're missing the fums. let's talk about the counsellors, the psychologists, the social workers who have been pulled from schools in recent years. talk about the school-based police and security personnel, the lack of training, basic access to the buildings. people in our schools want reasonable, practical help now. >> let me jump in here because my thing is for the thrill of

being able to whoo-hoo, is that worth the safety of a kid with, you know -- because these are recreational rifles we're talking about, they should be, and that's what most people use them for. you can't use them to really protect your home or you can't really use them to hunt. but i want to say this, lead efforts of the nra have said they will not budge an inch on their stance against new gun laws. nra president david keene was on cbs "face the nation. quths "i want you to listen. >> the first thing we have to do is protect the kids. we're willing to debate the whole question of these semiautomatic so-called assault weapons. >> you are no. >> we debaded it before. we had an assault weapons ban for ten years. we had what senator feinstein is suggesting. it was allowed to expire. the fbi, the justice department and others who studied it said it made no difference. if we're looking at things that are effective, let's talk about them. but first let's talk about protecting our kids. >> ken, don't go anywhere, we'll

get your answer to what he had to say after this quick break. >> okay, don. you need a little♪ ♪ ooh baby, can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance? align can help. only align has bifantis, a patented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. try align to help retain a balanced digestive system. try t #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. it's lots of things. all waking up. ♪ becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors

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ken trump, president of the national school safety and security services back with us. so you heard what david keene, who is the nra president, had to say on cbs "face the nation" regarding gun laws. what do you think? >> well, with all due respect to the nra, and i believe in the second amendment in general, but i also believe that i won't pretend to be a gun rights lobbyist if they don't pretend to be school security experts, and that way we can respect our field. look, one gun in the hands of a kid is one too many in a school, and when we look at the fire power, i think we need to have some rational conversations on the gun issue and stop politicizing it. i mean, it was jumped on immediately. i'm talking, as you know, within

24 hours people -- we started circling the wagons on this issue, and, yes, it needs to be a conversation, but we also need to balance out that conversation with what are we going to do when kids come back to school in two weeks and how do we pull back all these other resources that we know work in schools that we've taken away? and i just want a practical conversation that's helpful in the big picture but i also want to see the conversation on what are we going to put into schools in the next few weeks to give people some resources who need the help, don, and we haven't had that conversation. it's fallen to the wayside, the budgets have been cut. i want some practical stuff and i want stuff that's going to help a principal in two weeks when they get back to school and the politics and the political rhetoric and the tone of this has to be not ratcheted up but toned down and serious on all ends and stop circling the wagons, taking -- politicizing

it, using it to further the agendas and let's get real. let's get real. >> i spoke with two moms, they wanted a police officer at every school. and, you know, i spoke with them and i felt obviously my heart went out to them. >> right. >> but it's not -- we can't afford it. it would be great if it could happen but we can't afford it, and there are so many other programs that are cut. i just had this conversation with my friend who is a police officer this morning who was saying there should be police officers at every school, and i said where is the money? and he is a republican. he's a conservative. and i said where is that money going to come from? you keep saying the government is spending too much money. where are you going to get the dollars from? >> well, if you recall, this is columbine deja vu. we had this conversation right after columbine and the clinton administration very appropriately developed the cops in schools program in the justice department and in the past five or six years that --

and this crosses both administrations, it's not a political statement, the last five or six years across multiple congresses, congressional sessions, that money disappeared. even if you could afford -- and i support school resource officer programs. as a father, i can understand, every father would like, you know, a police officer in their school and many parents right now after sandy hook would like a one officer per kid, but my challenge and question is fund it now. if congress throws money when they come back in january at this, what are you doing for sustainability? and, don, you hit it in the head. five years from now, six years from now when the grants run out, how do you sustain that and who is going to pick up the tab? after the cops in schools program ran out under the clinton administration, local school boards pointed to the police departments. police departments pointed back at the school boards, and those programs ended up being cut. i support them. they're proactive. they're prevention programs, but, you know, we're a roller

coaster society. roller coaster public awareness, poll lick policy, and public funding. the question isn't whether sandy hook or columbine or any other incidents are wake-up calls, the question is six mounts or six years down the road will we hit the snooze button and go back to sleep? >> ken trump, questions to be pondered. thank you. >> take care. how do you buy gadgets for people who are kind of leery of gadgets? maybe you probably shouldn't buy them a gadget. chris mass tech gifts from the techno phone on your list. how cool is that thing you see right there? that's next. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership?

[ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today.

let's see if i can work myself up some christmas spirit autopsy i'm pretending i'm at the mall now. whatever. gadgets are always a great holiday gift but what about the people on your list who don't always want the latest thing and they don't want to buy the latest thing? people who are a bit hesitant with new tech. the technophobes. laurie segall is our tech pro. you got your tech gifts for the technophobes and there's a retro gadget thing that's a trend right now. i think i owned it. >> i brought it in for you, don.

it's right here. you see that it is attached to my phone and if i want to take a phone call, i can just do it like this. >> i had one. i lost it at the supermarket. >> christmas is coming up and they're flying off the shelves, maybe i will send you one. i'm pretty sure my mom is getting one of these in the mail, too. we're seeing these fly off the shelves. you see it on amazon. they also have them at fab.com. but it's for people who have a smartphone but who still miss having that land line and having the feel of an actual telephone you can hold in your hand. >> okay. i left it in a shopping cart i think or someone snagged it out of my shopping cart. i would walk around and people would be like are you kidding me? no, it's real. it's great. i used to do my radio interviews on. it's really clear. >> i'm sure you looked very cool walking around with it. people love these things. someone probably did steal it, don. >> you know what? honestly, lori, if someone is a technophobe, you don't buy them a gift. you buy them a sweater.

>> maybe. but maybe you just got to ease them in. it's all about easing them into it, don. >> all right. my go-to is socks or a knit cap. it's easeasy. sticking with phones now and this may be one of the easiest phones to use ever, right, lauri? >> yes. this is very technological. imagine if you could completely replace your phone with your glove. it sounds crazy but there's a company that's created these bluetooth gloves that are just awesome. so instead of exactly telling you about it, let me show it to you. i demoed the gloves with a rep and take a look at how they work in action. >> in the thumb you've got a speaker and in the pinkie you have a microphone. so you can make the you can make the classical me gesture and talk on the phone that way. >> i hear your voice coming from my thumb right now. crazy stuff, don. very interesting. i could hear his voice in my

thumb. it was inspector gadgeting. they don't look cool but you will get a lot of looks on the street like this. >> for us children of the '80s, i'm really a child of the '70s. we are bringing the arcade to your pocket. what's this one? >> i'm a baby of the '80s. think about going to the arcade and playing games. there is something called icade. you can put your iphone in adevice and use the joy stick to play the games. they have it for the i pad, too. they are flying off the shelves. they are $15 on think geek.com. definitely a throwback to the past. >> it's tiny. it's like the phone in zoolander. >> i know. people love playing pac-man.

i play on it. i forgot how good i was at pac-man actually. >> i have my old -- i think it's the mattel football game. it was the baseball. remember? >> my brother would know, don. >> thank you. i look forward to the phone thing. you don't have to do that. happy holidays to you. >> you, too. >> someone called it the most subtle end of the world ever. friday was not the apocalypse, of course. but some braced themselves. doomsday just came and went. are they nuts or do they know something we don't? stop laughing in the studio. we spoke to a man who spoke to a bunch of them. his take next.

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it was the apocalypse that wasn't. the end of the mayan calendar friday meant time to put up a new calendar. the earth didn't stop spinning. time didn't end. it never was going to. but don't take my word for it. listen to the calm, learned words of wisdom from celebrated physicist michio kaku. >> look up in the sky. the sky is not on fire. we are not falling into a black hole. we are not colliding with planet x. in fact, it's raining and snowing, for god's sake. >> i spoke with bestselling author and host of brad meltzer's decoded on history channel. for doomsday he spoke with many people who believed december 21 was it.

all over. i asked him what he thought their reaction was when the sun came up saturday morning. >> listen. this is the danger of what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket. i can't help but think when they woke up they're almost disappointed that the world didn't end. we have people who were on the show so convinced they bought bunkers, filled it with kdvds. we had a group called vivos for wealthy people who cared about this charged $50,000 a head. $35,000 for children to be in their specialized bunker for when the apocalypse would hit. i know you're supposed to be happy we're not dead but you're definitely out 50 grand. >> okay. so you've got to ask. i have to ask.

do you call them eccentric? well prepared? >> if the world ends they are a genius. today they are like the guys who screamed about the millennium bug. no offense. i said can we do a live show where from 11:00 to 12:00 i go like this with a watch? it ain't gonna happen. i know you have to do what you want. it makes you comfortable. i think overprepared is the best word for it. >> overprepared. nearly every religion and culture has one thing in common, a doomsday scenario. do you think that's why so many people take these predictions seriously? >> listen, you said it right there. every religion no matter what they disagree on has the end of the world moment. almost every one of them. the answer is oddly in the fine print. that's the interesting part. who knows what will be next. there will be one that's next.

i don't think it is because religion tells us. but we don't want to feel like we are a dumb animal that gets wiped out. we see it as judgment. that's what you see in religions. we want to feel someone is out there. there is nothing wrong with feeling like we are not alone in the universe. why do we keep looking to this disaster and why will there be another? we just want to feel like we are not alone. the only thing you don't want to see is people being taken advantage of for that. >> there are several more doomsday predictions in the near future i'm sure will get as much hype as the dateses get closer. why do you think people are so fascinated. even when this one didn't pan out and others don't?

>> listen, it's like the great old time machine story. if you can go into the future, what do you want to look at? people want to read the stock market or see if the new "star wars" movies will be good. i want to know how i die. that's what i want to know. we are fascinated with our own demise. if someone said, you know you want to know. there will be something else whether it's bird flu, a pandemic that goes out. we did a story on ebola pox russian scientists came out. it acts like ebola, spreads like chickenpox. crazy stuff. worry about asteroids, meteors, nasa saying there will be solar storms but look at what's happening in connecticut. no one kills us better than us. i worry about what we'll do to ourselves. not some grand prediction by an old culture. >> brad's new book "the